


The Masked Qunari

by TheTyphonSerpent



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adoribull - Freeform, Adoribull Holiday Exchange, Fog Warriors, M/M, Seheron, Young Dorian, this is short and sweet and i wish i could make it long and pining but i don't have the time, young iron bull
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28121886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTyphonSerpent/pseuds/TheTyphonSerpent
Summary: Dorian is rescued by a mysterious Qunari during a trip to Seheron and years later runs into his rescuer again.This is a gift for Kerowyn, who wanted something to happen in the future-that-wasn't to make Dorian think differently of Bull.
Relationships: Iron Bull/Dorian Pavus
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25
Collections: Adoribull Holiday Gift Exchange 2020!





	The Masked Qunari

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the Adoribull Holiday Gift Exchange. If you want more delightful Adoriubull fluff like this, should definitely check out other works in the collection and follow the tumblr for future Adoribull related events.
> 
> https://adoribullholiday.tumblr.com/

Halward pinched Dorian's shoulder.

"Don't doze off." Halward snapped, glancing down his nose at the boy.

Dorian bit back a sigh and straightened his back. The top of his head barely reached his father's shoulder. Halward's hand was slightly raised as a warning. At 14, he still had a child's height and a rounded face. His grandmother occasionally commented that he was due for one more growth spurt.

Halward thought that bringing Dorian along on a business trip might make him more engaged in his studies. Maybe if Dorian saw _firsthand_ the efforts that the Magesterium made, he’d be more interested in one day taking Halward’s place.

It wasn’t going too well.

The man at the desk droned on and on, pointing to spots on his map. He was some sort of army captain, or general, or some title that sounded important. He may as well have been speaking another language. It was all words that Dorian recognized, but when he tried to pay attention, it didn’t string together into anything coherent.

The man moved a flag from one spot to another, and Halward's hand lowered as he leaned in. Dorian tried to follow suit. The flags were on a spot labeled "Southern Seheron Peninsula".

The man continued to talk about battle strategy and planning.

Dorian's eyes wandered towards the movement in the corner of his vision. There was a tear in the tent, and a bit of loose fabric was waving as a gust of wind picked up. Dorian shivered, and glanced back at his father, who was pouring over the map at this point.

He looked back at the tear. Surely the Imperium could afford tents that weren't torn to house a meeting with a Magister. Didn't the draft bother anybody else? As the wind died, a small cloud of smoke crawled into the tent.

He glanced back once more to ensure that his father was paying attention to the map, and tip toed closer to the tear. Lowering himself to all fours, he saw a pair of boots walk past, obscured by a milky-gray sheen.

It wasn't smoke. It was fog.

 _Thick_ fog.

Suddenly, a hulking gray figure tore through the tent, ripping it from its stakes and toppling the walls. The fog rushed to surround them, filling Dorian's surroundings with white and making his eyes water. He heard a fireball being cast - his father’s spell. Laying on the ground, he opened his mouth to call, "Father!" and fell immediately into a coughing fit.

Covering his mouth, Dorian made it to his feet and looked around to see almost nothing between the fog and his watering eyes. He could hear footsteps all around him, spells being flung, metal meeting metal.

He was encased in muscle and swept off his feet. In a flash, the fog that surrounded him was replaced by the bulk of arms and a torso. He looked up through reddened eyes. He was being held by a Qunari with broad horns, wearing a mask and goggles. The Qunari took one look at Dorian, and swore in qunlat.

"Vashedan. You're not -"

Suddenly, a second figure came up behind them, forcing the masked Qunari to duck and swivel, letting go of Dorian. Dorian stared in horror as the masked Qunari disappeared into the fog. Dorian tried to call, "Wait!" and was again overtaken by a coughing fit that brought him to his knees.

There was metal on metal, grunting, shouting, and one of the voices was distinctly that of the masked Qunari. A few seconds later, the Qunari again encased Dorian in his bulk, this time with a few streaks of blood on his chest and the axe sheathed at his back noticeably bloodied.

"Hey, you okay?" The Qunari asked, and Dorian could sense some form of comforting smile behind the mask.

"Cover your mouth. Do _not_ talk. Keep your eyes closed." The Qunari said.

Dorian was lifted off the ground, cradled in the Qunari's arms as he was forced to make himself blind and mute. He concentrated hard on focusing on anything other than the battle around them. The warmth of the man who held him, the slightly metallic scent of his skin, the tightness of his muscles. In any other scenario, Dorian might have blushed.

The air around them grew cooler and less thick, and the Qunari shouted, "Hey!"

Dorian heard the sound of boots thumping on wood. A dock.

"Maker's breath!" Dorian recognized that voice. It was the first mate of the ship they'd rode in on. Dorian was gently placed on his feet, still frozen, and opened his eyes in time to see his rescuer disappear into the fog. The first mate put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey easy, kid, you're safe now. We'll get word to your father that you're here and then we'll ship off."

Dorian's eyes were still glued to the spot where the masked Qunari had disappeared to. There was no reason for a Qunari to save a 'vint, and there probably never would be.

When Halward returned, they shared an embrace, and Dorian was still thinking about the man who'd rescued him.

\- x - X - x -

To say that Dorian didn't think highly of Bull would be an understatement.

When they'd met, it was at the bar at Haven. He was enjoying a book he'd borrowed from Leliana over a glass of swill disguised as red wine when a massive hulk of a Qunari arrived. A bloody wild boar was slung over his back, and he was surrounded on every side by various companions that Dorian would soon know as the Chargers. They were hooting and hollering as Bull threw the boar onto the ground, making Dorian's wine glass rattle and swish its contents over the side.

He glared over his book with a curled lip as Bull loudly demanded that the boar be roasted and served to the bar patrons, which elicited loud cheers from everyone other than Dorian. When the feast began, Dorian kept to himself and watched in disgust as Bull loudly gulped and slurped fatty roast meat.

The next day, they traveled to Redcliffe, and the horseback ride there was made all the more intolerable when Bull brought some of his leftovers from the night before.

Dorian rode beside him, trapped in between two lines of Inquisition soldiers on the narrow road, trying to keep his eyes forward while he listened to Bull loudly finish off one of the boar's legs. Occasionally, Dorian flicked a crumb off his shoulder.

" _Fasta vass_ , do you ever chew with your mouth closed?" Dorian snapped.

"Only when there's _not_ a prissy 'vint judging how I eat breakfast." Bull replied, brandishing the bone like a wand.

Dorian rolled his eyes and spent the rest of the ride in tense silence. When they arrived in Redcliffe, he made himself scarce until it was time to ambush Alexius.

He knew Alexius would pull a desperate stunt to maintain power, but he wasn't expecting to be flung forward in time. The next time he was close to Bull would be with a set of bars between them. He gazed into the jail cell where Bull refused to meet his eyes.

As much as he didn't care for Bull, nobody the pain and suffering associated with red lyrium poisoning.

They had no words to exchange with one another. If all went well, Dorian would be able to go back and ensure this future would never happen.

In the courtyard, underneath a sky of green where the veil took over the sun and clouds, Dorian saw a demon's claws a moment too late to put up a shield. His braced himself, preparing for the worst, when he was encased in muscle and swept off his feet. Bull's arms cradled him and took the full force of the demon's claws against his back, just before it was put down by one of Leliana's arrows.

"Hey, you okay?" Bull asked, and Dorian could see a pained smile spread across his face. He was trying so hard to seem kind and calm, despite a wound at his back and the battle around them.

Dorian blushed. He could smell the slightly metallic scent of Bull's skin, could feel the tightness of his muscles, and was brought back to being 14 years old. Bull picked him up and carried him to safety, just as he'd done so many years prior.

There was no more room for exchanges after that. It all happened so quickly that Dorian was barely aware it had happened at all.

When they returned to the present, and Alexius was being carried away in chains, Dorian was left standing next to Bull while the Inquision soldiers filed out of the chantry.

He looked up.

Bull was digging something out of his ear with his pinky.

"Bull?" He asked.

"What? My ear itches. Got a problem with that now?"

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Bull froze like a cornered deer, blinked, and very slowly turned to give Dorian an incredulous look. He glanced the mage up and down, found no signs of trickery or sarcasm, and raised a single eyebrow.

"It’s not often someone manages to surprise me, ‘vint. If this is about some fade shit you saw back there, I don't wanna hear it." Bull grumbled.

"It's not. I promise."

"Alright. I’m not gonna turn down free booze."


End file.
